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Missa Puer natus est nobis

probably written for performance at Christmas 1554; edited, and reconstructed where necessary, by Sally Dunkley and David Wulstan in 1972, and revised by Sally Dunkley with the assistance of Francis Steele in 2009

Introduction

Most composers seem to have found Mary’s arrival as Queen a stimulating and empowering period. Music was once again required in Latin and they were able to use more voices and write longer pieces. The miracle that is the Missa Puer natus est nobis is a Janus-like composition which undoubtedly dates from the time of Mary I. In common with English Mass-settings of the past Tallis does not set the Kyrie; he may well also have shortened the text of the Credo as his forebears had done but this we cannot tell as only the final few bars of this movement remain. He takes a plainsong tune as a cantus firmus, harking back to the Masses of Robert Fayrfax, Nicholas Ludford and the early John Taverner, and sets it in long slow notes in the baritone part. In the later years of Henry VIII this idea had become rather old fashioned. Certainly Taverner in his later Masses was either using as the starting point for his Mass-settings one of his own motets (Missa Mater Christi sanctissima, Missa Sancti Wilhelmi devotio) or a secular tune (The Western Wynde Mass), or indeed no model at all (The Meane Mass). Tallis chooses a Mass Proper as his melody—Puer natus est nobis (‘Unto us a boy is born’)—rather than one from Divine Office; this is unusual and with its strict liturgical role (the Introit at third Mass on Christmas Day) it strongly suggests that the Mass was written for one of the Christmases during the time of Queen Mary. Also like his predecessors, Tallis uses a head-motif, where the same music is used as the starting point for each movement.

This is where the looking back ends. Most pre-Reformation Masses were scored for five voices (SATBarB), the exception being Ludford’s ravishing Missa Videte miraculum for six voices (SSATTB). Tallis’ composition is for seven voices (AATTBarBB) without the once-common high treble part. Using such large forces would have attracted the description ‘festal’ in the pre-Reformation period but Tallis does not follow other conventions associated with this form. There are no sections for soloists and the Mass movements are not broken up by as many caesuras as one would expect. Not only is there no juxtaposition of solo and full sections but there is no official use of triple time, the piece being in duple metre throughout. Interestingly, Tallis has embraced Archbishop Cranmer’s injunction that music should not be ‘full of notes, but, as near as may be, for every syllable a note, so that it may be sung distinctly and devoutly’—a feature of the attractive miniature compositions from the reign of Edward VI.

There are three other pieces by Tallis which use seven voices in this configuration—Suscipe quaeso Domine, Loquebantur variis linguis and Miserere nostri—and it has been suggested that this unusual scoring was deliberately chosen to suit performances by Philip’s Chapel Royal which seems not to have used high treble voices and was resident in England with the king between 1554 and 1555. The evidence then—a Mass based on a Christmas theme, scored for performance by the English and Spanish Chapels—points to Christmas 1554 as a possible performance time. Academics may also be correct in believing that the choice of the Puer natus cantus firmus was designed to celebrate the fact that Queen Mary was thought to be pregnant at this time. The Missa Puer natus is itself therefore something of a marriage between the English and Spanish Chapels not only in its scoring but also in its sound world which seems to owe something to the Flemish style of writing, especially in the slow-moving harmonies and the use of passing notes in the melodies (most usually upwards towards the key note) which allow the textures to shimmer. It also prominently features what became known as the ‘English cadence’, a clash of flattened and sharpened leading notes in close proximity. The piece is sonorous and rich, a gorgeous background tapestry for a solemn celebration of the Mass, and has wonderful dramatic effects including the use of antiphony or dialogue between voices (‘altissimus’ in the Gloria or the ‘Osanna’ to the Sanctus). It is a shame that Tallis wrote no more in this vein but, perhaps like Mary’s short-lived Restoration, it was a piece of the moment not to be repeated.

Recordings

Here we meet Tallis the composer of music for the old English liturgy in both a modern 'continental' style and a self-consciously old fashioned English style. The music includes the extraordinary seven part mass 'Puer natus est nobis' of 1554 and ...» More

"I am delighted to recommend this seasonal selection. Over the years we have recorded many different types of Christmas music—carols, chant, chorales, hymns, motets and masses—but this is the first time they have been put together in one collectio ...» More

Gramophone Record of the Year-winning group The Cardinall’s Musick continues its exploration of Tallis’s sacred music. These recordings not only showcase the greatest repertoire of the English Renaissance in dazzling performances, but also illustr ...» More

Not long ago neither Tallis's Missa Puer natus est nobis nor his antiphon Ave, Dei patris filia could have been recorded: the manuscripts for some of the voice-parts were missing and were believed to be lost for ever.» More

Glory to God in the highest
and on earth peace to men of goodwill.
We praise you. We bless you.
We worship you. We glorify you. We give
thanks to you for your great glory.
Lord God, heavenly King,
almighty God the Father,
O Lord, the only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father.
You take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
You take away the sins of the world,
receive our prayer.
You sit at the right hand of the Father,
have mercy on us.
For you only are holy.
You only are the Lord.
You only are the most high, Jesus Christ.
With the Holy Spirit
in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

Glory be to God on high
and on earth peace, good will towards men.
We praise you. We bless you.
We worship you. We glorify you.
We give thanks to you for your great glory.
Lord God, heavenly king, God the Father almighty,
Lord the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ,
Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father.

You who take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
You who take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer.
You who sit at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us.
For you only are holy. You only are the Lord.
You only are most high, Jesus Christ.
With the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

Glory to God in the highest
and on earth peace to men of goodwill.
We praise you. We bless you.
We worship you. We glorify you. We give
thanks to you for your great glory.
Lord God, heavenly King,
almighty God the Father,
O Lord, the only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father.
You take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
You take away the sins of the world,
receive our prayer.
You sit at the right hand of the Father,
have mercy on us.
For you only are holy.
You only are the Lord.
You only are the most high, Jesus Christ.
With the Holy Spirit
in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

Lamb of God, you take away the sins
of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins
of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins
of the world, grant us peace.

Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world,
grant us peace.

Lamb of God, you take away the sins
of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins
of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins
of the world, grant us peace.